New Study…Important for your Reproductive and Hormone Health

“At the beginning, I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system,” said Dr. Yu.. “When I first received the results for dogs I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I received the results for humans.”

The recent study, led by Dr. Yu, titled “Microplastic presence in dog and human testis and its potential association with sperm count and weights of testis and epididymis” published in *Toxicological Sciences* explored the impact of this research.

The study found microplastics in ALL human testicular tissue samples analyzed.

The average concentration of microplastics was 329.44 micrograms per gram in humans.

(They looked at dog testicles too, but I’ll keep the focus here to more relevant terms.)

Polyethylene (PE), which is commonly used in plastic bags and bottles, was the most prevalent plastic detected in human tissues. 

There was a “negative correlation between specific polymers such as PVC and PET and the normalized weight of the testis”. In layman’s terms, more plastic meant smaller balls.

The dog data showed more plastics meant less sperm count. (They weren’t able to look at sperm in the frozen human samples, but certainly this finding would match.)

It’s not surprising at all if you know the bigger picture of less worldwide fertility going on. Not that this is the sole cause, but it is one factor in play.

Is this more fear porn? Not entirely, because there are many things you can do about this.

Arm yourself with more knowledge, like this article on The Dangers of Plastic. 

For example, polyethylene itself is generally considered to be a relatively inert plastic with low potential for endocrine disruption. However, concerns arise from additives and contaminants that may be present in polyethylene products. 

These include plasticizers such as BPA and phthalates, which are used to make PE more flexible and can leach out and act as endocrine disruptors. 

BPA is a well-known xenoestrogen.

Phthalates aren’t as well known but they should be. They’re directly anti-androgen. (So if testosterone is important to you, listen up!)

By the way, knowing that hard plastics are more inert than flexible plastics is useful knowledge too.

I don’t know if they looked for these specifically in the testicles, but the high PE count speaks to the fact that BPA and phthalates were likely in there.

So reduce your exposure to plastics. Unless you go off-grid full nature mode, you won’t eliminate plastics entirely, but you can make good strides regardless.

The 80/20 rule is useful here. Do what you can – simply put, you don’t have to be overly stressed about it. 

Next up, make sure you’ve got your Herbal Armor. 

If you missed that post, it’s important to know that herbs mitigate effects of things like plastics. Cistanche for example exerted an anti-BPA effect which preserved testicle health!

With all that you may still have microplastics in your balls (not to mention the rest of your body) but at least it can be a lot less than average. 

And in the end, that matters.

References:

1. https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/toxsci/kfae060/7673133 
2. https://scitechdaily.com/plastic-invasion-microplastics-found-lodged-in-human-and-dog-testicular-tissue/